Feed-gage for printing-presses



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. S. RUSSELL.

FEED GAGE FOB PRINTING PRESSES. No. 580,005. Patented Apr. 6, 1897.

77567666 5 6 6 Jvvv-2a 602" (No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

C. S. RUSSELL. FEED GAGE FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

No. 580,005. I Patented Apr. 6, 1897. .9 7 2 f 4 if WEI/7626256 5 UNITESTATES PATENT ()EEIQE;

CHARLES S. RUSSELL, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

FEED-GAGE FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 580,005, dated April 6,1897.

Serial No. 591,951. (No model.)

To all wkont it mm concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES S. RUSSELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State ofPennsylvania, have invented certain newand useful Improvements inFeed-Gages for Printing-Presses; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecification.

The object of the invention is to provide an automatic gage foradjusting paper fed to a job-printing press; and it consists of a fingermoving over the tympan and actuated by the movement of the platen. Theinvention consists,further,in the various parts and arran gement ofparts, as hereinafter fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portionof a printingpress with my improved gage in use thereon. Fig. 2 is anelevation of the face of the platen. Fig. 3 is an edge view of theplaten. Fig. 4=is a sectional view on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 isa sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fig. 4. Fig. (5 is a sectional Viewon the line 6 6 of Fig.

2. Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7 7 of Fig. Fig. 8 is a detailof a portion of the gage mechanism. Fig. 9 is a sectional view on theline 9 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of a portion of thepress, showing the movement of a part of the gage mechanism. Fig. 11 isa sectional view, on an enlarged scale, on the line 11 11 of Fig. 2.Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are on an enlarged scale.

My improved gage is adapted for use upon any of the j obbingpresses inwhich a swinging platen is used to cooperate with a fixed bed-plate.

I show in the drawings at A a portion of a press of this type, itsplaten being indicated by B, the platen being pivotally attached to theframe of the press at a, its bed at O, and its gripping-arms at D. Asthese portions of the press form no partof my invention and are ofordinary construction, I do not deem it necessary to more fully describethem, and for the same reason I omit reference to various other parts ofthe press which do not immediately cooperate with the gage forming thesubject of this application.

The gage-finger is shown at e and is carried by an arm E, which projectsdownwardly from the upper edge of the platen and lies upon or butslightly removed from the tympan 1), over which it is adapted to movelaterally. The arm E is carried by a reciprocating rod F, above andparallel with the edge of the platen and carried in journal-blocks 1; kThe block 70 is secured to the back of the platen so as to projectbeyond its edge, and another attaching-block is shown at k, the blocks7t It being apertured to receive a rod K, which may be said to form theframe of the entire device. The block 73, already referred to, is fixedupon one end of the rod K. By this construction it will be seen that therods F K are parallel.

The reciprocation of the rod F is accomplished by means of a rock-shaftG, carrying a crank-arm g, which is connected to the rod F by means of apitman H and pivotally attached to a block Q, which slides upon the rodK and is fixed to the rod F in manner hereinafter described.

The rock-shaft G is journaled in a block L, secured to the end of therod K at the right side of the press as "iewed from the position of theoperator, and the lower end of the rod G is journaled in a swinging arm0, which is pivotally attached to the frame A of the press by means of ascrew-bolt ct, this pivotal attachment being at a point below thepivotal point a of the platen. The outer or swinging end of the arm 0 isbent laterally, as indicated at o, the lateral extension being aperturedto form the bearing for the rod G. The lower end of the rod G isflattened, as indicated at g, and the upper part of this flattenedportion is twisted, as indicated at g to a spiral form. \Vays areprovided for the flattened portion of the rod G by forming lateral lu 's0' one u on each side of the arm 0, and pivoting in each lug a slottedblock P, the outer end of the pivot-pin 1) of each of the blocks P beingslightly upset, so that it will not fall out when the rod G isdisengaged from the block. A collar g is mounted upon the rod G andprovided with a set-screw by means of which it may be fixed thereto, thefunction of the block being to form a stop upon one side of the block L,the hub of the crank-arm 9 being mounted upon the opposite side of theblock L, so that longitudinal movement of the rod G within this block isprevented.

The attachment of the pitm an H to the block Q, is by means of a rockingblock 7L2, into the 'apertured side of which the pitman H is screwed,this block bein j ourn aled within a loop 72, secured to the block Q, bymeans of a screw-bolt it. The body of the loop h is provided with anaperture 7L3, within which the pitman H may freely play. he block Q isclamped to the rod F by means of a plate q, secured to the block K by athumb-screw g, a portion of the block Q being cut away to form a recessto receive the rod F, and the latter having an annular recess or grooveto receive the block Q and the plate q. The block Q slides upon the rodK, and to prevent jarring I prefer to mount upon this red abuifer-spring S, reacting against a collar 8, fixed upon the rod.

The attachment of the arm E to the rod F is by means of a block R, towhich the arm E is rigidly attached. The block R is apertured to looselyfit upon the rod F and is transversely apertured from below to receive ablock 0, which has a transverse aperture to receive and of greaterdiameter. than the rod F. The portion of the rod F over which the arm Eis adapted to be adjusted is screwthreaded, and the upper face of theaperture through the block 7* is correspondingly screwthreaded. Anexpansive spiral spring r is placed within the aperture of the block Rabove the block r, where by the screw-threads in the aperture of theblock are forced into engagement with the threads upon the rod F, sothat any movement of the block R upon the rod is prevented. Athumb-screw r is set in the top of the block R, entering its apertureand bearing upon the top of the block 7', whereby the block R may berigidly fixed in its attachment to the rod F.

The arm E is quickly adjusted upon the rod F by loosening thethumb-screw r pressing the block 0' upwardly with the finger, so as todisengage its threaded portion from the rod F, when the block B may befreely moved longitudinally as to the rod F. The fine adj ustment of thearm E is accomplished by rotating the rod F, and for this purpose therod is provided with a thumb-nut T The gage-finger e is adownwardly-projecting corner of aleaf-spring e, secured at its upper endto the arm E by means of a rivet 6 whose head is undercut to adapt it tothe chamfered edges of the longitudinal slot in the arm E. The lower endof the leaf-spring 6 has a projecting finger a which engages the slot inthe arm E and thereby prevents lateral movement of the spring relativelyas to the arm. The engagement of the leaf-spring c with the arm E beingfrictional, it may readily be adjusted longitudinally upon the arm.

In feeding the press it is necessary only that the operator be. carefulto place the sheet J somewhat to the left of the position it has tooccupy in order to receive the impression of the type in the properplace. I have indicated the proper position of the left edge j of thesheet J by a line j marked upon the tympan 1). The operator havingplaced the sheet so that its edge j is farther to the left than thelinej, the function of the automatic gage is to engage the sheet bymeans of the finger e and move it to the linej, the gage receding fromthe sheet as the platen recedes from the bed of the press.

The rocking of the rod G is due to its longitudinal reciprocation withinthe blocks P, this reciprocation resulting from the move ment of theplaten and the fact that the pivotal attachment of the swinging arm 0 isbelow the pivotal attachment of the platen B to the frame of the press.This will be readily understood by reference to the diagrammatic figure.The upper end 11 of the platen moves from the point at which it is shownin this figure to the point :0. The distance from 1 to a being equal tothe distance from ac to a, the distance from a y to a plus the distancefrom a to a must be equal to the distance from a: to a through a. Thedistance from y to a in a straight line must be less than the distancebetween these points through a, and consequently less than the distancefrom 00 to a. It follows,therefore,that as the platen moves from itsopen to its closed position the rod G must be withdrawn through the way,

blocks P and rotated or rocked by reason of its spiral form.

It is necessary hat the sheet J be brought to its proper position beforecontact with it of the grippers D, and for that reason the twistedportion of the rod G is not continued to its end, but passes beyond theblocks before the grippers D touch the paper.

The movement of the gage-arm being positive and the adjusting mechanismbeing such that the distance of its travel may be regulated precisely,the device makes it possible to gage the work accurately, aconsideration of the utmost importance when printing with a plurality ofcolors and in other work in which it is necessary that the charactersprinted sustain a definite relation to others al ready upon the paper.

- It is well known that in hand-feeding, the side gage being fixed anddependence being placed upon the skill of the operator in bring ing thesheet to this gage, it is difficult, especially in quick-action presses,to bring the paper exactly to the gage. Either it falls alittle short oftouching the gage,or,being pressed too firmly against it, is caused tobulge outthe adjustment of the twisted portion 9 of the rock-shaft Gwithin the way-blocks P, and this is accomplished by the adjustment ofthe crank-arm 9 upon the rock-shaft. To provide for this adjustment, thecrank-arm carries a set-screw m, by means of which it is fixed in anydesired angular position with reference to the shaft, the latter beingturned so as to bring its twisted or spiral portion into such relationwith the way-blocks that it will leave them before the grippers Dcontact with the tympan. As this adjustment moves the rod Glongitudinally within the block L it involves a corresponding shiftingof the crank-arm g and the collar f upon the rod.

In making the press ready it becomes necessary to remove the gage-arm.This is readily accomplished by loosening the clampingplate q andsliding the rod F in the block it until itis withdrawn from the blockif, when it may be withdrawn from the block 7;. The parts are as easilyput together again, and the plate q falling into the angular depressionformed for it in the rod F the adjustment of the gage-arm is notdisturbed in the slightest degree.

While I deem the flatten ed and twisted form of the rock-shaft G aspreferable, it is obvious that this form might be departed from,correspondingly-modilied way-blocks being used.

The invention consists not only in the details of construction shown,but in actuating the gage-arms by means of a swinging arm pivoted to thepress-frame away from the pivot of the platen and having its outer endconnected with the platen. The longitudinal reciprocation of thisswinging arm relatively as to the platen, due to the eccentricity oftheir angular movement, may be transmitted to the gage-arm in a varietyof ways. Though I prefer the construction shown, I do not desire to belimited to it.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination with a printing-press havinga swinging platcn,of a gage-arm adapted to reciprocate laterally-overthe platen, a Swinging arm pivotally attached to the side of the pressbelow the pivot of the platen and having its outer end connected withthe platen, so that the swinging of the platen will cause the arm toswing and means for connecting the gage-arm with the swinging arm sothat the reciprocation of the swinging arm relatively as to the platen,as the latter swings upon its pivots, causes the reciprocation of thegage-arm.

2. The combination with a printing-press having a swinging platen,of agage-arm adapted to reciprocate laterally over the platen, a swingingarm pivotally attached to the frame of the press so as to swing throughan arc eccentric to the arc of travel of the platen and having its outerend connected with the platen, and means for connecting the swinging armand gage-arm whereby the reciprocation of the former relatively as tothe platen causes the reciprocation of the gage-arm.

3. The combination with a printing-press havi mg a swinging platen,of agage-arm adapted to reciprocate over the platen, an extensible arm whosemembers are in screw-threaded engagement, pivotal attachment of theextensible arm to the frame of the press below the pivotal point of theplaten, a journal block for said arm secured to the platen to admit ofthe rocking of the upper end of said arm, a crank-arm secured to theupper end of the extensible arm and connection between such crank-armand the gage-arm.

4. The combination with a printing-press, having a swinging platen,of agage-arm adapted to reciprocate over the platen, a recipro eating rodfor carrying the gage-arm and being carried by the platen, means foradjustin g the gage-arm longitudinally upon the rod, a swingingextensible arm having a pivotal attachment to the frame of the pressbelow the pivotal attachment thereto of the platen, and ajournal-bearing in the platen, such extensible arm being jointed betweenthe points of its attachment to the frame and to the platen, its membersbeing in screw-threaded attachment to each other, a crank-arm carried bythe upper portion of the extensible arm, and a pitman connecting thecrank-arm and the reciprocating rod.

5. The combination with a printing-press, having a swinging platen, of agage-arm for reciprocating over the face of the platen, a rod attachedat its upper end to the platen and fixed against longitudinal movementwith reference thereto,and being flattened through a portion of itslength from 'its lower end, a part of such flattened portion somewhatremoved from the end of the rod being twisted, a swinging arm pivoted tothe frame of the press below the pivotal point of the platen, opposingpivoted blocks mounted on the swinging arm and having ways to receivethe edges of the flattened portion of the rod, a crank-arm mounted uponthe upper end of the rod, and connection between the crankarm and thegage-arm.

6. The combination with a printing-press having a swinging platen,of agage-arm adapted to reciprocate over the platen, a rotatablereciprocating rod for carrying the gage-arm, said rod having ascrew-threaded portion and the attachment of the gage-arm thereto beingby means of a block apertured to loosely receive the rod and having arecess to receive a binding-block, a binding-block set within suchrecess and having a transverse aperture of greater diameter than thediameter of the rod, one face of such aperture being adapted to thescrew-threads of the rod, and means for forcing said face against therod.

7. In a gage for printing-presses, having swinging platens, such gagebeing adapted to be secured to the platen, the combination with agage-arm adapted to reciprocate over the platen, a rotatablereciprocating screwthreaded rod, a block to which the gage-arm isattached and which is apertured to loosely receive the rod and recessedtransversely to such rod-aperture, a block adapted to such recess andhaving a transverse aperture of greater diameter than the rod, one faceof such aperture being adapted to the screwthreaded portion of the rod,and means for holding such face in engagement with the rod.

8. Ina gage for printing-presses having swinging platens, thecombination with a gage-arm, of a rod for carrying the gage-arm,bearing-blocks adapted for attachment to the platen and within whichsuch rod may reciprocate, a rocking crank-shaft, journal-bearing forsuch shaft carried by the platen, means for preventing longitudinalmovement of the shaft within such bearing, a pitman for con necting thecrank of the shaft with the reciprocating rod, a swinging arm adapted tobe pivotally secured to the frame of the press below the pivotal pointof the platen and having opposing way-blocks, the crank-shaft having aflattened and twisted portion adapted to the ways of such blocks.

9. In gage mechanism for printing-presses having swinging platens, suchmechanism being adapted for attachment to the platen, the combinationwith a gage-arm for moving over the platen, a reciprocating rod forcarrying the arm, bearing-blocks secured to the platen, for carrying therod, a rock-shaft, a bearing-block fixed to the platen for therockshaft, a crank carried by the rock-shaft, a pitman connecting thecrank with the reciprocating rod, an arm adapted for pivotal attachmentto the frame of the press, and having ways for the reciprocation thereinof the rock-shaft, such shaft having a straight and a spiral portionadapted for the engagement of such ways.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE B. SWEET, CHARLES W. FERGUSON.

